No Subsidy For Varsity Education In Edo– Obaseki

Edo State government has ruled out subsidy for university education in the state. It said majority of its budget for education is channeled towards funding basic education.

Governor Godwin Obaseki who stated this while inaugurating the Governing Council of the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, said his administration would assist students to the extent it could.

Obaseki said that his vision is to return Edo to its glory days of being the bastion of education in the country.

He stated that he would deploy resources to fund basic education instead of subsidising university education.

He urged the new board to set up an investigation panel to review and understand what went wrong with the university.

Challenging the new board to reposition the institution to be a world class university as envisioned by Prof Alli,Obaseki said he was saddened that the expectation of the university has failed.

According to him, “We have reduced our premier university to one driven by pure political agenda. That cannot be the fate of our ivory tower.

“I hope this new board will help refocus the university to the dream of late Ambrose Alli. As a government, we will give you all the support that is required. We spend N300million every month on that university. They claim they have more than 20,000 students. We have invested on infrastructure and we will do more but I believe the faculty and the people responsible for managing the university should do more.

“There should be more transparency in the way the university is managed. There should be less rancour and more academic work. I have no doubt that the people we have selected have what it takes to turn the fortunes around.

“I have confidence that this new board can turn around the university. The government is ready to spend more money on infrastructure but we will not until we are sure that the resources we put in will be well utilised.”

Newly sworn in board member, Elder Matthew Emiohe in an interview with newsmen thanked the governor for the opportunity, adding that members of the board will work to ensure that some positive changes are brought into the institution.